ERC Starting Grant · 2025
There are two approaches to the emergence of life: bottom up and top down. This means on one hand, we can start with simple geochemical reactions and try to synthesize increasingly complex molecules and reaction networks from there. On the other hand, we can start with life as we know it and try to decomplicate the chemical reactions that run it to find a common denominator. Both approaches have yielded important insights, but they also have their limitations. So far, the two approaches are far away from ultimately converging. CoBeEN aims to reconcile geochemistry and biochemistry by focussing on the most ancient carbon fixation route: the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway (WLP). This autotrophic…
From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.